Washing-machine.



W. S. LlLLIBRlDGE. WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 3!, 1918- 1,%94,682. Patented Feb. 18, 1919.

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i l l 15 1 v, 15 "if 1% i L w 41 w HHHH- Mama iii/[away ATTOR N EY il 0FETIK CITY, KANSAS, 'ASSIGNOR TO E. E. LUGEANBEAL,

.OF ELK CITY, KANSAS.

WASmNG-MACHINE.

releases.

' specification of Letters Patent. I Patented Feb. Jig, 1919.,

I Application filed January 31, 1918. Serial It'o. 214,735.

are intended to cleanse clothing .by meansof gasolene or other liquidwasher; and the object of the same is to produce an apparatus of thischaracter in which the clothes may be dipped in the gasolene repeatedly,may be held submerged as long as desired, and may be raised above thegasolene and rotated so as to air them, when the cleaning process iscompleted.

A further object is to roduce an apparatus of this character w ich is.simple 1n its structure and therefore may be cheaply manufactured andeasil maintained in operative condition, and w erein the air is admittedat the top and is extracted from the side and carried to a pointexterior of the building so that odors are avoided and the .dangerofaconfiagration-is reduced to a minimum.

These and other objects are carried out by constructing the 'machine ina manner more fully hereinafter described and claimed and as shown inthe drawings,

. wherein a of Fig. 1, and

tub as shown in Fig. 1,

Figure 1 is a vertiml section of this ma chine complete.

Fig. 2 is a, sectional detail on the line 2--2 Fig. 3 is a horizontalsection on the line 33 thereof. g

The casing of the machine comprises a hollow lower portion 1 calledastandard, a hollow upper portion preferably cylindrical and whic maywell be called the tub 2, and by preference. a; laterally oflsetindependent housing 3 for the top and closed by a removable cover 4whose flange 5 fits close into the mouth. 6' of the and the body of thewhich may be well cover has converging and preferably oblique air inletopenings or tubes 7 whose inner ends open through a disk 8 mountedwithin the chime as seen. The cover also has hoods 9 over the'outer endsof the inlets 7, and the inner ends of the hoods stand adjacent to ahandle 10 or other device for raising the cover.

It will be understood that l prefer to employ gasolene or some otherinflammable agent for cleaning the clothes, and this liq- -uid isadmitted to the tub in any suitable way while the soiled liquid andsediment are drawn .off through pipes 13 and 1d and a cook 15. The tubis raised at the center of its bottom as shown at 16, and one of theoutlet pipes may draw the contents from a point near the raised center.The latter carries a bearing 17 in which is rotatably and slidablymounted a main shaft. By preference I provide a small chamber 18 at oneside of the tub communicating with its interior, and at the top of thechamber is an outlet flue 19 leading to a chimney at a distant point andeventually out of the building; and it will be understood that itis'quite possible to apply a suction fan interior of the tub and createa draft through the inlet openings 7. I consider this quite a desirablefeature of my invention because, it takes in fresh air from the room orapartment in which it is situated, rather than giving off odors andvapors, and therefore its olfensiveness is reduced along with theliability of accidental fire. The disk 8 serves to prevent splashing ofthe to this flue to withdraw the odors from the liquid gasolene or otherinflammable cleanser within the tub, and every safeguard is vthrownaround the machine to avoid fire as much as possible.

Disposed concentrically within the tub 2 is a basket 22 whose wall isperforated as seen and whose open upper end is surrounded by an inturnedflange 21, and at its center the bottom of this basket-is raised as at26 and supported upon a block 27 which in turn is mounted on the upperend of amain shaft 25. The latter passes downward through the bearing 17and through Mid another bearing 29 within the standard or base 1, and inboth of these bearings the shaft is capable of longitudinal reciproca--sprocket 34 at its outer end within the housing 3 connected by a chainbelt 35 to a driving sprocket 36 fast on a. shaft 37 having a crankhandle 38 by which it may be. rotated. When the shaft 25 is raised andthe bevel gears thrown into mesh with each other, the crank handle 38may be rotated to cause the rotation of the basket within the tub; butwhen the shaft 25 is again dropped to the position shown in full linesin Fig. 2, the basket descends within the tub and its rotation ceases.

While any appropriate means may be employed for raising and lowering themain shaft and the basket, I prefer to use a treadle 40 which is forkedat its inner end as shown at 41 and the fork arms pivoted as at 42 toopposite sides of a collar 43 which is mounted loosely on the shaft 25below the bevel gear 30. When the' outer end of the treadle isdepressed, its inner end is raised and the fork causes the rise of thecollar and the rise of the collar raises the shaft in a manner Whichwill be clear. The treadleis by preference supported on a link 44. Forholding the treadle depressed and the basket with its load of clothesraised, I preferably employ a toggle lever 45 as seen in Fig. 1. Whennow the toggle is straightened out as the treadle descends to theposition shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, it will be obvious'that thetoggle will hold the treadle in this position until .it is tripped bypressure on its central pivot in a manner which will be clear.Therefore, it is. impossible for the basket to descend accidentally intothe liquid in the tub which, of course, would cause great agitation andsplashing thereof.

I prefer to connect the gear 30 with the shaft 25 by some form ofratchet mechanism which will permit thebasket to rotate by momentumafter it has been started. by power, and in Fig. 2, I have given a crosssectional view on about the line 22 of Fig.

1. In this embodiment of the present idea the shaft 25 has a pin passingloosely through it, and the-hub 51 of the bevel gear 30 has a socket 52containing a spiral mner wall terminating in a shoulder 53 as shown.This form of ratchet mechanism is one of inany which may be em loyed atthis point. When th gears are t rown into engagement and power appliedto the crank handle 38, the basket is rotated on its axis within the tub2 and at the upper portion thereof and attains considerable momentum. Assoon as the power is cut off and even when the rotation of the gear-30ceases, continued rotation of the basket and the shaft will bepermittedby reason of the presence of this ratchet mechanism. However, Ido not wish to be limited to the employment of this detail, as othertypes of mechanism may be used at this point or thesame may be omittedentirely. In fact, it is quite possible to have the basket rotated bypower rather thanby hand if desired.

In use, the gasolene or other cleaning liquid will be admitted to thetub 2 until it rises about to the dotted line in Fig. 1 with the partshaving the proportions illustrated in the drawings. The cover is thenremoved and the clothing to be cleansed placed within the basket,thelatter having been raised by depression of the foot piece of thetreadle 40 as will be clear. The

basket is now lowered into the tub and raised and lowered as repeatedlyas desired,

especially if the cleaning agent employed should be water or the like,and of course the same may be hot or cold and it may be changed as oftenas desired. Eventually, however, gasolene will doubtless be used to givethe final cleaning to the clothes; and after having been dipped andthoroughly soaked in gasolene, depression of the foot piece of thetreadle 40 causes the rise of the main shaft and the basket until theclothes within the latter stand above the level of the gasolene withinthe tub. Now the gears 30 and .31 come in mesh and the power mechanismmay be actuated to rotate the basket so as to aerate the contentsthereof,

the fumes and vapors passing 0E through the flue 19 rather than throughthe inlet 7 in the cover, as suggested above. The latch mechanism holdsthe toggle in position to keep the treadle depressed although theoperator should take his foot off the same; and therefore he is free toreach into the basket when the cover is removed to agitate,

turn over, and eventually withdraw the clothing, and in fact passentirely around the machine, at will. ,After the first batch of clothinghas been cleansed it is removed and a second charge substituted therefori the tub, means for raising and lowering- In testimony whereof I afiinmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLARD S. LILLIBRIDGEQ Witnesses:

E. A. SMITH, E. E. LUGEANBEAL.

